Impossible, such words did not exist in the Martial World. Anything could be achieved; limit was but a phrase meant to discourage the young from overtaking the old.
There is no single rule in place, and Kiel just broke free from the chains of logic, creating a Beast Core inside a Spirit Bead.
"From now on, you shall walk a path no one has ever trodden before. Not even a being whose Soul mixed with a beast, Not even an ascended Spirit Beast can claim to be like you, for you have become an aberration between two worlds." Boros claimed as he helped heal Kiel's injuries.
"It matters not, in the past, aberration or not, I remain who I am. Let us just hope I do not seek to destroy this one."
"Indeed, repeating the past is not exactly a commendable thing. But try not to avoid it too much. The more you avoid fate, the more it will try to devour your whole life. "
Kiel nodded his head and kept Boros' words at heart.
With but a thought, he entered his inner world. Standing in the middle of the cosmos within, he gazed at the Beast Core floating inside the Hollowed Spirit Bead. With both of these in his body, he now gained twice the strength of an ordinary being. What's more, he was no longer bound to any element or power.
Even common sense was skewed to his path.
The Ouroboros acted as Kiel's primary Soul-Beast. Due to this, the Hollowed Spirit Bead matched its attribute.
Once a Hallowed Spirit Bead becomes occupied by a Soul-Beast, it would conform with the corresponding element of the Soul-Beast. If the Soul-Beast was Fire, then there would be a sea of flames, or if it was a combination of water and lightning, there would be looming dark clouds atop a sea ocean.
Boros represented time in its current form. But, its attribute was existence itself. Thus with Kiel peering through the vast cosmos that lay in-between realities, the two of them recollected the past and crafted a unique Spirit Bead that housed every elemental attribute.
But, because it existed past the boundary of the veil of reality and amongst the stars, the Spirit Bead was quite literally nothing and everything at the same time.
Kiel's Hollowed Spirit Bead was now a representation of the Universe. So he stood aloft above all creation, proof of him entering the True Spirit Realm.
Looking down, the floor was the very cosmos where stars and nebulas existed. The vastness of the world and the grand scale of the Universe were presented before him.
It was then that he noted something bizarre upon his entry. The world around him… was familiar.
"This is the Hallow Spirit Bead? This feels rather familiar… it is like the Spirit World, but downscaled." Kiel stated as he filled himself with questions.
It was then that a being around a meter in size appeared adjacent to his left; it was a black serpent biting its own tail with a spiraling galaxy for eyes; it answered through the gaps of its mouth, "Astute observation, Ye Feng. This is indeed what others from your time can call a poor man's Spirit World."
"I see." Kiel sensed the familiarity it possessed; it was as though he had been brought to the past, "This reality was rebuilt from the remnants of the past. Spirits Beasts are Spirits from the Spirit World of the past. True Spirit Realm means that a [Hollowed Spirit Bead] is created inside the body. A system was created mirroring the world beyond time without anyone ever knowing that they molded their future from the past. But, that means, this Spirit Bead needs to be occupied by a creature from the outside."
He ran his thoughts and asked, "Is it possible for me to place another Soul-Beast here?"
"For better or worse, you and I are one and the same. I can be treated as a part of your Soul; when viewed from another angle, I am not counted as a Soul-Beast, but half your soul. Also, you are not bound to any Element, so I would change the way it is called. You may call this the Universe Bead, and here, everything can exist. I'm going to rest; if you decide to keep any Spirit Beast, make sure it is useful and interesting." Boros demanded as he closed his eyes to rest.
He quietly floated in front of Kiel, its aura incomparable to any beast, and as for the Beast Core it came here with, it silently floated between the gap of the Ouroboros' body.
Though both of them had been together for eons, this was the first time in a long time Kiel saw the Ouroboros… for some reason, he could feel it being lonesome.
"I shall get you a companion then, my friend," Kiel said and closed his eyes in that space. He failed to see the Ouroboros smiling at the word friend.
Outside in the Physical World, his body moved, and rummaged through the Dimensional Bangle, Kiel brought out a fist-size Soul-Beast.
He had the Soul-Beast enter his body through mysterious suction forces. After it entered Kiel’s body, the sphere containing the beast’s soul broke. Releasing a frightening beast.
A tiger-like being roared inside his body, the beast left behind by his parent was a being called the [Storm Calamity Tiger] that lived in the deepest parts of the chaotic seas. Despite being a tiger, it had two pairs of white wings and a pair of black bull horns. It had blue fur and ink black stripes. Its eyes were like dried blood and were often called the Devil’s Jewels.. Its glorious color and beautiful plumage made it one of the most enamoring creatures in this world despite its ferocity.
It was a beast that beckoned calamity; its roar created whirlpools and hurricanes. The flap of its wings produced raging gales, and it controlled water. In the Chaotic Seas, it was a being of terror.
The [Heavenly Soul-Beast Rankings] ranked this beast 2nd, fourteen ranks ahead of the Inferno Devourer and just below the Reverend Golden Qilin.
It was considered one of the strongest Soul-Beast to refine. As a matter of fact, this very Soul-Beast was so strong that others claimed that it should be ahead of the Reverend Goden Qilin.
They claimed that the Reverend Golden Qiling was a well-known Sacred Beast of the Sect who created the Heaven Soul-Beast Ranking and that was how it secured the top spot.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
However, its place was never really a problem. It didn't matter how many of its kind killed young prospects when being refined. It didn't matter what debate others brought to the table.
After the Storm Calamity Tiger entered Kiel's body, it roared and shook the world. As a soul it could summon even more powerful raging winds and thunders creating a storm that toppled over warships.
Yet a second later, its roar was deafened by the beat of a heart, and as it looked ahead, it saw a young man. Standing next to a serpent circling a multi-colored bead.
Kiel and the Tiger looked each other in the eyes.
The Tiger was left confused. The young man should not be a human, but it appearing in that strange world meant anything but. Then, the young man opened his mouth to speak—
"Kneel…" the young man said, and the Storm Calamity Tiger was forced down to its knees by an inexplicable force. Its head forced down to the invisible ground, “Good.”
The Storm Calamity Tiger roared but sounded no more than a cat. In the seas it was feared as Devil Incarnate, but before the young man, the Tiger was nothing.
Kiel was untouchable inside this space inside his body — the Storm Calamity Tiger was no more than a house cat to Kiel and Boros.
Kiel took a step and appeared before the Tiger. His hand brushed its slightly blue fur, "Hmm, I have another Tiger? Is this perhaps telling me something? Look at me, Tiger."
The Tiger hesitatingly raised its head, and as it looked Kiel in the eyes, it felt as though an unfathomable pressure bore on its body.
"Speak your name."
The Tiger did not speak.
"You can talk, can you not?"
The Tiger sheepishly nodded.
"Then, answer me. What is your name."
It was a simple question, and Kiel did not even give out a single feeling of oppression. However, in the inner world reflecting his true self, the Tiger only felt the truth of regality.
'I don't know what is going on, but... when I look this Spirit Devourer in the eyes... I can feel my existence being ripped apart. Ju-just who is he!?' The Storm Calamity Tiger could not understand the situation.
The Storm Calamity Tiger avoided eye contact to not get destroyed, "I-I-I-I have no name um... ahhhhh... your Majesty."
'He's scared? Did I do anything wrong?' he could not remember scaring the little beast, yet, it cowered right before him.
"Can you not see, Kiel? It cannot answer because it has no name to give." All of a sudden, Boros awakened and appeared right next to Kiel.
"Is that correct?"
The Storm Calamity Tiger nodded weakly.
"Well then, you will need a name if you are to stay inside my body the-"
"Ye Feng, wait!" Boros interjected and got between Kiel and the Tiger; with a grin, he looked at the Tiger, "Leave the name to me; I will train this one as well. I want to see if a Soul Beast can cultivate. Can a soul evolve?"
"Okay, just make sure to control it. It might destroy us if it gets too strong. Do not be too complacent when playing with it." he warned.
"Yeah, yeah, oh, just so you know, I might attempt spatial manipulation, so you might feel a sting." Boros excitedly said.
"Just be wary of our vessel's limitations. Anyway, I leave the Tiger to you; inform me of its name when you come up for one later. Manifest our second Innate Ability."
"I'll do it later. Do you have any requests?"
Kiel was left to think for a good second, "...something auxiliary, won't use too much stamina or will be exhausted in a single-use."
"Okay, noted, but now we are still weak, so I cannot possibly manifest something too strong. Don't get into life-threatening fights for now. I am too tired from consolidating the Hollowed Spirit Bead and the Beast Core." Boros then grinned at the Tiger as it continued biting its tail.
They did not further pursue any more issue, only smiling, and as for the Storm Calamity Tiger, it kept its head down, praying to the higher powers to be spared for death, not knowing the highest authority was the two beings it was afraid of.
In the external world, Kiel opened his eyes. He soon found that his body remained the same. Broken as he had left it before.
So, he closed his eyes and allowed the remnants of the pure otherworldly energy to seep into his body. To repair what had been broken.
For days he did nothing but sleep and circulate the energy until there was nothing left and 16 days later, he opened his eyes and confirmed his body had been healed from injuries and even made stronger.
He now stood just past the next cultivation realm entrance, the True Spirit Realm. At this level, he was nigh invincible unless he met geniuses of this era.
Previously, he could kill the cultivators at the peak of this level, but now, Kiel understands that his limits were the eighth level unless he could assassinate them. Of course, that's only considering that if he did not summon all his strength.
Once he decided to let it all out, no one in the True Spirit Realm would be able to stand in his way.
Standing up, he patted the dust off his body, and peeled off the crystallized blood from his skin, "There is little time; I must hurry and collect the necessary material to open the path. But first, I need to eat and take a nice long bath. I had fasted for too long.."
Kiel picked up the spear adjacent to him and then swung it to a circle to destroy what runes had yet to turn to dust.
Keeping the spear away, he stepped towards the boulder sealing the entrance; Kiel extended his index finger.
Summoning so little strength that it didn't look anything different, Kiel waved his hand multiple times over.
It looked like nothing changed, but the boulder collapsed into tiny pieces with a bit of pressure.
Stepping out, Kiel expected that it would be the moon or the sun to greet him when he came out, but instead, he witnessed no one other than a purple-robed woman with a zither placed on her lap.
The woman caught Kiel's attention first and the piles of rotting corpses, skeletons, and mutilated bodies second.
Kiel's gaze went back to the woman — her eyes had not left him.
The cave Kiel stayed in was in some Forest he knew not the location of. Away from the prying eyes of man.
But somehow, a woman was waiting for him right outside his makeshift chamber. He would think it was an assassin, but she did not show him a hint of animosity nor a whiff of danger.
'Whatsmore, most of the corpses have turned to bones. Some are still decomposing; they are all cultivators, so it took a while, taking that in consideration… they died seven or two months ago. While I think that one behind her happened not so long ago. Anyway, if she wanted to kill me, it was clear she could've done so without trying.' he made an educated guess that she was not an assassin.
The woman looked at Kiel's eyes and then asked, "Are you Kiel Zarte?"
Kiel looked at her as he opened his mouth to give an answer, "…No, I am not, my name is Ye Feng. Good luck in your search for this Kiel Zarta."
He said as he walked away.
Based on her looks alone, she was as dangerous as a duck holding a knife in its mouth.
But Kiel chose to walk away.
He was not scared, simply put, 'Seems troublesome.'
He couldn't be bothered with dealing with someone else.
"Hmmm, I thought I was in the right direction. I see it appears that I have waited in the wrong place." the woman said with a tilted head while watching Kiel disappear from her sight.
The lady looked at his disappearing back with a sigh; she closed her eyes and cupped her hands, a being then appeared from out of thin air, a being with a circular body, spike-like fur, and big round eyes.
Its red eyes blinked multiple times as its tiny tail and legs wiggled about, it had no mouth to speak of, but it managed to sleepily ask, "Hmm? To have you call me—uwaah, so many deaths around you again.”
“But they threatened to kill me.”
“Aiya, I understand little one, you do not kill wantonly. Eya, eya, how long has it been since you last called?”
“I… do not know.” the girl sadly looked down on the ground.
“I see, then, is something the matter? Oh! Has he come out?"
The lady shook her head, "The location was incorrect, again. It would appear that he is not here, please."
"Again?" Its tiny creature sighed but still spoke with patience as she did before.
The lady ferociously nodded her head. She lowered her head in shame of not finding the man again, "I wasted my time on a dead-end, once more… I apologize, Muki."
Muki shook her head but did not become angry, "It is unfortunate, but even the stars sometimes fail. Even the heavens know not when the Tree of Truth bears its fruits. But fret not. I shall find him, little one, do not worry."
Muki looked up at the skies and watched the stars beyond the sun's light,"You are lucky! He is nearby; it appears you did not make a mistake. But you should go now; he seems to be in a hurry to move."
"Thank you, are you all right? I felt nothing, but you could have redirected it to me if you needed to." the lady asked in a concerned tone.
"It is nothing, dear; the search was not that long anyway. Now, get going; I can no longer track anyone for the next three weeks without consequences."
"I see; I am thankful to receive your help again, Muki."
Muki yawned and nodded her head before disappearing into the girl's body.
The girl stood up and picked up her Zither once again. Her steps were as feeble as before as she walked; twinkling black clouds of dust appeared before her and then floated in front. She followed them as she resumed her steps.
Though her steps were relatively slow — really slow.